When it comes to artist collaborations, there are some that pique interest and others that positively get mouths watering. For me a Fabrice Lig and Titonton Duvante pairing falls closer to the latter category. Both bring a defined perspective to each project they tackle, usually resulting in something interesting if not down right essential. For Lig, his productions have used Detroit and Chicago as a touchstone for inspiration, focusing on potent melodic themes that guide his techno and house creations into vibrant areas of musicality that can put a collective smile on whole dance floors. His recent Evolutionism album as Soul Designer took that approach in full, yielding salient references to jazz and funk seen through a white European lens. While not as prolific, Duvante’s output has been ripe with genre stretching creativity from day one. His aptly titled “Embryonic” EP melded moody strings with time stretched electro breaks, foreshadowing the broken beat movement by several years. Since then Duvante’s attacked techno from several angles but always with a firm attention to complex rhythm structures and frequently eyebrow-raising explicit song titles.

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“That Connection EP” isn’t Lig and Duvante’s first meeting. The pair’s first collaboration came on 7th City in 2001 and yielded “Even Deeper,” a soulful techno number that apparently became a rallying anthem in the NYC club scene post 9/11. “That Connection” isn’t much of a departure from the material found on that earlier release both in terms of style and quality. The title track comes on strong with an old-school techno vibe, placing punchy bass and toms front and center; the 909 snare is slightly truncated but no less powerful when the hi-hat swing and drum syncopation comes into full view. The funky interplay between bass and bleepy synth lines serve as the driving force for the melody but are raised to a higher level by the reflective minor chord progression and a subtle dose of strings. It plays slightly more to Duvante’s strengths, but regardless this is a classy piece of deep techno funk. Beanfield’s remix stays very truthful to the original in terms of retaining its prominent melody strains but gives it a push toward club play viability. Ditching the analog drum patterns, they use organic drum sounds to lend a house feel. The remix is really buoyed by the pairing of the original chord sequence with an intensified string arrangement as they expand the melody from sustained bow usage to a compact plucked sound. In the end it simplifies the track but grows its impact by creating an epic melody crescendo that stays faithful to both its original creators’ vision.